This invention relates to a gaming machine. More particularly, the invention relates to a gaming machine and to an improvement to a game played on such a gaming machine.
Players who regularly play gaming machines quickly tire of particular games and therefore it is necessary for manufacturers of these machines to develop innovative game features which add interest to the games. In so doing, it is hoped to keep players amused and therefore willing to continue playing the game as well as to attract new players.
Also, with the growth that has occurred in the gaming machine market, there is intense competition between manufacturers to supply various existing and new venues. When selecting a supplier of gaming machines, the operator of a venue will often pay close attention to the popularity of various games with their patrons. Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games which are popular with the players as a mechanism for improving sales, retaining customers and attracting new customers.
In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine having a display means and a game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play an underlying game wherein one or more random events are caused to be displayed on the display means and, if a predefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize, the gaming machine being characterised in that a feature game series distinct from the underlying game played on the machine may be triggered in which feature game series a set of indicia are provided which have specific functions or attributes during the feature game series and wherein prior to commencement of playing the games of the feature Same series the player is allowed to select which indicia from the set of indicia has at least one of the particular functions or attributes during the feature game series.
In one embodiment, the player is allowed to select the indicia that will act as a substitute symbol during the feature Same series. Substitute symbols are xe2x80x9cwildxe2x80x9d symbols which may also multiply wins by a particular factor.
Alternatively, the player may be allowed to select the symbol that acts as the scatter symbol during the feature fame series. Alternatively, the player may be allowed to choose both the substitute and scatter symbols which should be different symbols.
There may be a cost required relating to the choice that the player makes. For example, the player may pay one additional credit prior to commencement of the bonus game to allow for a special symbol to become a substitute symbol during the bonus games. The player may also be allowed to choose the function of special symbols during the bonus games (eg. scatter, wild, any pays).
In one embodiment, the player may choose to add extra symbols to the feature games that did not appear in the basic game.
The symbols may have different functions and/or different win multiplication values as substitute symbols.
In an alternative embodiment, at the end of the feature game series, the players winnings are increased dependent on the number of times a particular indicia has appeared in the display during the feature game series, and the player is allowed to select that particular indicia from the set of indicia prior to commencement of the feature game series.
In one particular embodiment, the feature game series may show a race and the selection of the indicia made by the player may be the selection of the winner of the race from the participants. The participants in the race may be, for example, cars or horses. The player may also be able to choose the volatility of the game by choosing the number of participants in the race with the prize for winning being greater with a greater number of participants. Prizes may be awarded if the chosen participant comes second or third in the race.
In an alternative embodiment, the prize for first place may not change with the number of participants in the race. However, the number of places that are awarded prizes may depend upon the number of participants selected by the player.
In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine having a display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game wherein one or more arrays of indicia are caused to be displayed on the display means, and, if a predefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize, the gaming machine being characterised in that a feature game series may be initiated on the machine either on the occurrence of a predetermined event or by some other trigger means in which feature game series at least two reels provide special indicia which both substitute for other indicia in the display and multiply any win when the special indicia substitutes for other indicia characterised in that the player may select the factors by which the wins will be multiplied when the special indicia substitutes on a particular reel.
Typically, the special indicia will be provided on two of the reels of the feature game. The player may have the choice of factor A for one of the reels, factor B for the second of the reels wherein the product Axc3x97B preferably is always the same number with A and B varying for each of the reels. Typically A and B are integers.
In a yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine having a display means and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play game wherein one or more arrays of indicia are caused to be displayed on the display means and if a redefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize, the gaming machine being characterised in that a feature game series may be initiated on the machine either on the occurrence of a predetermined event or by some other trigger means in which a feature game series the player is allowed to choose the quantity of a certain symbol that appears on the reels or virtual reels of the gaming machine during the feature game series.
In one embodiment, the feature game series may provide a series of special indicia having specific monetary values and the monetary value shown is paid to the player when the particular indicia appears on the display means either individually, or in some embodiments when in a special combination. The player is allowed to choose the number of such special symbols on a video reel. However, the value of each symbol decreases as the number of special indicia on the virtual reels increases